May 5 Inventive Belgium

Europe’s most innovative university? That would be KU Leuven in Belgium. The 600-year-old institution boasts one of the largest independent R&D organisations in the world and its annual research spend exceeds €454 million, while its patent portfolio includes 586 active families, each one representing an invention protected in multiple countries, says Reuters in its Europe’s Most Innovative Universities ranking report.

KU Leuven researchers submit more patents than most other universities in Europe, while outside researchers frequently cite the university’s inventions in their own patent applications.

The second-ranked university in Europe is Imperial College London, where researchers have been responsible for the discovery of penicillin, the development of holography and the invention of fibre optics. Third-place University of Cambridge has been associated with 91 Nobel Laureates during its 800-year history, while fourth-placed Technical University of Munich has spun off more than 800 companies since 1990

In fact, German universities account for 23 of the 100 institutions on the list, more than any other country, with the UK tying in in second with France. However, on a per capita basis Ireland comes out on top, ahead of Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

The ranking is compiled together with Clarivate Analytics and is based on proprietary data and analysis of indicators including patent filings and research paper citations.